Disturbing the dead: how merciless sand harvesters force exhumation of bodies

Standing atop a cliff overlooking the water hyacinth-infested Lake Victoria, Evelyn Ogello points out to the deep gullies doting Wang’chieng’ location in Homa Bay County.

The gullies - a testimony to many years of aggressive and destructive sand harvesting, widen with each passing day.

“This village will cease to exist in the next few years. The gullies are eating up every bit of the village,” says Ogello.

Wang Chieng’ is one of the villages along the shores of Lake Victoria that has been negatively affected by the sand harvesting craze that is also posing monumental environmental risks to the lake’s shoreline.

The destruction runs from Karachuonyo, through beaches in Homa Bay to Mbita and Sindo in the two Suba constituencies.

The dead have been exhumed and reburied after their grave sites were raided by merciless sand harvesters. The remaining graves are at risk of being swept away by waters.

Electricity polls are falling apart while some homes have been left hanging precariously with every move the sandexcavators make.

Ogello, 39, who hails from Komenya village says bodies of her mother-in-law, Sarah Ogello and her five sons were removed from graves about three months ago and reburied just a few metres away to create room for sandharvesting.

In this village, blessed with sandy soils, nearly everyone is involved in the sand harvesting business.

“It is painful to see people digging out dead bodies because of sand harvesting. We simply watch them because there is nothing we can do,” she says.

Digging out bodies

Another villager, Antony Tindi, says he is worried about the on-going sand harvesting activities in the area. His paternal uncle’s grave, the late Simeo Gaya who was buried 30 years ago, could soon collapse, it is dotted with cracks.

“That white cloth was used to cover my late uncle’s body. The coffin in which he was buried seems to have decomposed and that is why you can see his body parts exposed,” says Tindi.

He adds: “We are planning to take my uncle’s remains and bury them on safer ground. The dead must be respected,” he says.

At the neighbouring Koballa village, a primary school pupil had her arms amputated after a lose electricity poll fell on her.

Sand harvesting in the area has also affected agriculture, as many families have turned their farms into sandharvesting fields.

The worst hit is Kobala–Chwowe Road, which connects busy Chwowe beach to Katito and Kendu Bay towns. Also severely affected by the environmental degradation is the Lake Victoria shoreline, stretching from Mbita to Sindo townships.

Karachuonyo MP Adipo Okume says extreme sandharvesting in the area has made roads impassable whenever it rains.

“I am pleading with residents to stop destroying roads in the name of sand harvesting,” Okuome says.

He adds, “There are natural drainage systems which are formed by moving water. Unfortunately, sand harvesting has blocked the drainage systems, making water overflow into homes,” he says.

Homa Bay County Beach Management Unit Chairman Edward Oremo says risky sand harvesting has interfered with landing sites for boats, leading to accidents in the lake.

“The once beautiful beaches along the lake are now a pale shadow of themselves. This has greatly impacted tourism activities in the region,” says Oremo.

But the sands harvesters remain unapologetic. They say they are exploiting the sand deposits for economic gain.

Grace Akoth, 37, has harvested sand at Konyango village for the last 10 years. Like her colleagues in the business, she has no plans to stop. She agrees that they sell the sand at throw away prices - Sh1,700 to a 7 tonne lorry - to middlemen. The middlemen resell the sand at between Sh8,000 to Sh10,000.

The mother of two, knows that sand harvesting has destroyed roads, caused floods in her village besides interfering with topography of land in the area, but argues that the business provides means for her to earn a living.

“Stopping it means I will be unable pay school fees and buy food for my children,” says Akoth.

Willys Okeyo, Chairman of Aluora Makare, a local community-based organisation that advocates environmental conservation says sand harvesting is excessive in the area due to depletion of fish in Lake Victoria, despite locals being sensitised on the dangers of excessive sand harvesting.

“Many people now feel fishing is a waste of time because of decrease in fish population.

They view sand harvesting as a sure way of earning a living,” says Okeyo.Homa Bay County Director of the National Environmental Management Authority John Maniafu expresses concern that destructive sand harvesting is an environmental risk.

[email protected]